title: Concentrations of sulbactam/ampicillin in serum and lung tissue.
abstract: The penetration of sulbactam plus ampicillin into lung tissue was studied in 15 patients undergoing thoracic surgery for pneumonectomy after the administration of 1 g of sulbactam plus 2 g of ampicillin as a 15 min intravenous short infusion. Ampicillin serum concentrations declined from 40.8 mg/l at 1 h to 18.8 mg/l 2-4 h after administration. Concomitant serum concentrations of sulbactam were 25.5 mg/l and 11.8 mg/l, respectively. In lung tissue, peak ampicillin concentrations of 35.6 mg/kg were reached 1.5 h after administration declining slowly to 26.8 mg/kg after 2-4 h. The respective sulbactam concentrations were 8.6 and 5.5 mg/kg. In our study sufficient sulbactam and ampicillin levels active against important pathogenic organisms causing community- and hospital-acquired respiratory tract infections have been achieved in lung tissue, suggesting that the combination sulbactam/ampicillin is suited for the treatment of most community- and hospital-acquired respiratory tract infections as well as for chemoprophylaxis and treatment of postoperative lung infections after thoracic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Klinikum der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Eisenlohr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joos-Württemberger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hasse
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daschner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D013407:Sulbactam / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D000667:Ampicillin; D013407:Sulbactam